Paul Rodgers quits Queen

Paul Rodgers has left Queen after five years, insisting his stint as singer was never a "permanent arrangement."

Paul Rodgers has quit Queen.

The singer - who has been with the group, currently billed as Queen + Paul Rodgers, for five years - wants to return to his former band Bad Company, who he is touring with this summer, insisting his stint as replacement for the late Freddie Mercury was not "a permanent arrangement."

He told Billboard: "At this point we're gonna sit back from this. It was never meant to be a permanent arrangement.

"I think we made a huge success of it, actually. We did two world tours and a couple of live recordings, and made a studio album, which was pretty historical because Brian May and Roger Taylor hadn't really gone in the studio with anybody and recorded something like that for a very long time. So it was quite an achievement, I think."

Despite his departure, Paul has not ruled out rejoining the group in future.

He added: "It's kind of an open book, really. If they approach me to do something for charity, for instance, or something like that... I'd be very much into doing that, for sure."

The singer admitted his experience with the group was incredible and he had never imagined the response he received.

He told Billboard.com: "There were some fantastic e-mails we received that almost had me in tears. There were a lot of younger people who had given up the idea they'd ever see anything like Queen live again, and there it was, full on."

Brian and Roger have not yet spoken about the future of the group they founded in 1970.

Original Queen frontman Freddie Mercury passed away from an AIDS-related illness in 1991.

Having completed their sold out world tour the critically acclaimed partnership of Queen guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and new vocalist Adam Lambert (American Idol/Glee) embark on a series of European dates.